Photog41's Blog

Check out last week's Street Story, much thanks to Stephanie Taylor and family for letting Walt and myself profile an amazing story....  here's the link, enjoy.

                           http://www.wpri.com/dpp/on_air/local_wpri_street_stori
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               John Villella     Street Stories Videographer

Hello all,

          Here's the link to this past weeks Street Story that aired on January 16th, about the Calculator Club at the Community Prep School in Providence. Great kids, Great school, Great story, much thanks to Community Prep for inviting us in, and capturing some riveting moments.  enjoy!

                                    John Villella: Street Stories Videographer

http://www.wpri.com/subindex/on_air/street_stories<
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Hey All,

      Just wanted to give a heads up as to what Walt and I are working on for this fridays edition of Street Stories (1/16). We shot a story at the Community Prep School off of Broad Street in Providence, where Middle school kids are learning about math and equations in a different and unique way. Its called the calculator club where one kid in the class has to solve 10 math equations WITHOUT using a calculator, before one his other fellow classmates who IS using an actual calculator, solves the problem. Its an interesting take on math, and it gets the kids really motivated to solve the problems, and to "beat" the calculator.  in doing so, the kids get to put their name on a huge board as you walk into the school,  showing that they have beaten the calculator, which gives them even more motivation to see their names gracing that board. Shoutout to Target 12 Investigative Reporter Tim White who passed this story along to Walt and I.  Will anyone beat the Calculator and get their name on the board?????........ you'll have to wait and see this friday at 6:15PM to find out.... till then we posted a brief video blog on our street story homepage, so check it out and if YOU have any story ideas, or comments feel free to pass them along to me.  here's the link to out street story homepage. Thanks once again to Web journalist Courtney Caligiuri for posting our video blogs and stories every week for us.  enjoy!

                                                    
     John Villella: Street Stories Videographer

                                            http://www.wpri.com/subindex/on_air/street_stories

Last Monday into Tuesday were  extremely busy days for Walt and I. We started our week off in Newport Monday morning covering Senator Pell's funeral starting at 6:00AM and didn't get back to the station until 7:30PM. We then proceeded to meet up early Tuesday morning at......oh....lets.....say........3:15AM  and drive to T.F.Green to meet up with New Bedford native Jesse Simmons who was leaving for Los Angeles on his 3800 mile, 5 month walk to raise awareness for cancer and research. Yes you heard correct he's WALKING, NOT DRIVING, WALKING ACROSS AMERICA!!!!!   We arrived at T.F. Green roughly somewhere a little before 4AM, where we were greeted by Jesse's family, girlfriend, and filmcrew who are going to document his journey across america. I'll be completly honest, we both were exhausted, but the end result of the piece we did this past friday, and the fact that Jesse's family and friends TRULY appreciated Walt and I covering his journey at such an early hour, is the reason why i love doing these stories.  We wish Jesse nothing but luck for the next 5 months, and we will be meeting up with him when he arrives in Boston in May for the final leg of this incredible feat thats for such a great cause. here's the link to his blog, which he was nice enough to post the story we recently did on him at the airport. enjoy!     

                                                    
         John Villella                                         

                                                   http://jesseandbrucewalkamerica.blogspot.com/

Hello all,

       this weeks edition of street stories (11/7) features a young woman Caitlin Cohen, a Brown university student who is a health activist, and co-founder of MHOP (Mali Health Organizing Project).  She sits down and talks to Walt Buteau about her effort to reach a goal of having a government/citizen cooperative healthcare system in the urban area of Mali. MHOP would enable citizens to design their own healthcare system. Also next time you buy a bag of Doritos, check out the bag of the bag, because Caitlin's picture is on the back of some of the bags for winning a contest for her MHOP project. you can catch our video blog on our street stories homepage on wpri.com, and you can catch Caitlin's story this friday November 7th at 6:15 on Channel 12.

                                                    
     John Villella

I have spent many election nights in the Biltmore, waiting for returns and reaction. It is our most storied arena for what some consider our favorite sport.

But November 4, 2008 was such a sharp contrast. The word historic is too easy. The word different is not enough.

At one point, my photographer and I reflected on how we see some of the 'regulars' only once every 2 years or so. They are the organizers, the behind the scenes operatives and in a few cases, the 'king makers'. They are the brains and the money. Some, both. You may not know all their names but you are more than likely impacted by most of their work. Early on, those faces filled the room with smiles and hand shakes as they exchanged their opinions and perhaps a cold beverage or two.

But this night was. . .something.

The old guard of the democratic party was joined by a sea of unknown and in many cases young humanity. You could tell they were new to the election night game as they climbed on the stage when it wasn't ocupied and snapped pictures of each other at the podium reserved for the candidates' concessions or celebrations. They wore sweatshirts and long hair instead of ties and neat parts. They got louder throughout the night and by ten or so they sort of swallowed up and maybe even nudged the others away from the television. But a thunderous difference came with the first word that Barack Obama was the president-elect.

Suddenly, 'Oh---bom--uh' chants filled the room and tears filled many eyes. The emotion was something I've never seen in that stately room. The happiness, the glee, maybe some relief and more than anything, the unshadowed optimism.

We saw more of that in the streets, streaming down college hill and into Kennedy Plaza. Four to five people wide, walking forward, yelling with excitement and pounding the crisp midnight air with their fists. The chanting. . .Oh----bom----uh. . .continued as though they were in an arena, celebrating a cleanup hitter or a quarterback. I asked a few  where they were going. They all said the same thing.

"I don't know."

And they don't. But there's no doubt they feel a strong connection to what happened on November 4, 2008. They feel important. They feel powerful. They feel maybe for the first time in their lives that they are a vital part of the process that's been celebrated for so many years without them.  

Walt Buteau 

Reporter Walt Buteau records a video blog at the spot where Central Falls resident Jorge Restrepo was murdered just down the street from his home.

Street Stories Videographer John Villella and Reporter Walt Buteau (no, he was not sleeping during the interview even though his eyes are closed) interview Linda Silva about her search for her grandchild.

Vietnam Veteran Steve Kilgore listens to Walt Buteau as they discuss the shock of getting his Vietnam Letters back 4 decades later.